Engine Building or Tableau Building games are games where you start off with almost nothing and use the little you have to build up slowly. By the end of the game, you will have built a system that generates whatever it is you need to win the game. Engine building games are characterized by players buying or building up resources that allow them to gain even more currency or resources. The name comes from the idea that players are building an engine which will produce points later in the game and escalate when you feed those points it produces back into the engine. Some of the best examples of modern engine building games are:
Wingspan
Terraforming Mars
Scythe
Splendor
The Castles of Burgundy
Marvel Champions: The Card Game
Puerto Rico
These are all highly strategic type of games since choices made early in the game have a snowball effect over the rest of the game. So if you are looking for a teaching point about strategic planning, systems thinking, analytical skills and even decision making abilities, these would be highly ideal. Which are your favorite type of engine building games?
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An engine building game in session!